zuberberg makes a cameo on snl to face the person who played him not so flatteringly on "the social network." good morning, i'm willie goois geist and this is "way too early." revolution in the streets. then i went home quietly and made a delicious cobb salad. i'm glad you're up with us this morning listening live on the radio or watching with us. you can text the word awake to 622639 to tell us why you're awake. we'll read the best responses in the show. today is monday, january 31st. so much to tell you about in

egypt. the financial times, mubarak cling toes power. opposition uniting in egypt. and usa today, pressure rises on mubarak. plus, the saturday night live angle, fred armasin does a mean, it turns out, mubarak. first, real news live at 5:30 a.m. here at 30 rock. the u.s. state department is evacuating american citizens from cairo this morning as anti-protesters take to the streets for a seventh straight day. organizers have called for a protests of the millions tomorrow as president mubarak refuses stubbornly to step aside. in a noted change, though, the country's police which withdrew after government officials called in the army last week now reappearing on the streets. last night, leading reform advocate mohamed el bar die was

among those who joined thousands of protesters who say they are determined to stay there until they bring about a regime change. the muslim brotherhood has put aside their differences to show a historic unity behind that man right there, el bar die. reports of widespread looting, historians say they're concerned that many of egypt's treasurers are being threatened. but cultural artifacts damage bid vandals can be restored. the death toll stands at more than 100 with thousands being injured. also a report of several prison breaks throughout egypt. for more now, we bring in i.t. correspondent john ray live in cairo. john, what is the latest? >> reporter: well, you get a real sense in cairo this morning of a tightening of the security

nets around the protesters. not just the reappearance of the police on the streets here, though they have been more traffic cops than rye yost police. but certainly, the barricades around our office here, around our total and around tahrir square, the main focus of the protests. there are more -- than seen before. people are being asked to show their identity. they're asking us not to take pictures. so a real sense that perhaps here in tahrir square where others are gathering this morning is becoming caged in. now, there was some tension an hour or so ago. we were down there. people pushing up to a row of tankes and a solar started firing into the air a number of rounds loosened off. i have to say, into the air, not at people. but a warning to keep people back and a sign of how volatile how how things are here and how things can change quickly. >> john, we've heard reports of

what you're describing, that the military has held back at this point not moving in to squash into the streets. is there any sense that there will come a time at which the tanks will roll in and this will become a military conflict? >> i cannot see at the present time when protesters will open fire. mubarak, if he gave that order and they followed that order through, they would merely be putting petrol on the fires here. that would be tend of the road for him, for sure. whether the soldiers would ever obey an order like that, nobody can tell. i can only talk about the opinion of a former officer i was talking to in the square earlier and i said to him, listen, what do you think the soldiers here are thinking? he says, the soldiers are thinking nothing. they will just follow the orders. and it's what the generals decide will happen will happen. so i said, you know, you're an

officer, we're an officer, what do you think the general res thinking? they have to calculate whether they think hosni mubarak is going to stay in fire and stick with him or whether they think the ground is gone from mubarak. we keep talking about tipping points. when will the ground shift dramatically away from the president that he can no longer cling on? >> if that does happen, who in your estimatation slips in at that point? is it elbaradei? >> it's a difficult question. the question is who is acceptable for the people and the united states? omar suleman would serm be acceptable to the people. i'm sure mr. elbaradei would be acceptable to the people. but mr. elbaradei doesn't have a constituency here. there is still no single figure

in the up rising. >> john ray, we appreciate you keeping us posted. thanks so much. president obama meanwhile urging a, quote, orderly transition to democracy in egypt, stopping short of calling president mubarak to step down. obama spoke with the leaders of saudi arabia, turkey, israel and great britain on the need for an egyptian government that is responsive to its people. secretary of state hillary clinton also kept up the administration's delicate balancing act, saying mubarak must live up to his promises of reform. >> are you calling upon egypt to call for free and fair elections and would you ask mubarak to say unequivocally that he will not run? >> we have been urging free and fair elections for many years. i mean, i do think it's important to recognize that through republican and democratic administrations alike, america's message has been consistent. we want to see free and fair

elections and we expect that that will be one of the outcomes of what is going on in ewe gipt right now. >> but secretary clinton repeatedly avoided questions about whether mubarak should resign because of the political upheaval in egypt. >> david, you cannot keep trying to put words in my mouth. i've never said that. i don't intend to say that. i want the egyptian people to have the chance to chart a new future. it needs to be an orderly, peaceful transition to real democracy, not faux democracy, like the elections we saw in iran two years ago where you have one election 30 years ago and then the people just keep staying in power and becoming less and less responsive to their people. >> the united states, of course, has given huge amounts of aide to egypt over the years. >> there is no discussion as of this time about cutting off any

aide. we always are looking and reviewing our aide. but you know, right now, we are trying to convey a message that is very clear, that we want to ensure there is no violence and no provocation that results in violence and that we want to see these reforms and a process of national dialogue begun so that the people of egypt can see their legitimate grievances addressed. >> meanwhile, mohammed elbaradei was out criticizing the white house response to the egyptian request. >> it came here like lead. people expected the u.s. to be on the side of the people. and to let go of a dictator, you know? but now president obama is saying that the rights of the people need to be protected. >> sure, but he's also saying i

look to the government to kwlemt a democracy. to ask a dictate or to implemen democracy is an oxymoron. >> many on capital hill have said that this could be an opening for the muslim brotherhood to take power in the country, although that could result in an islamic state. there is no evidence on the ground of that at this point. some are pushing for more aggressive backing of the protests, while others worry the radical regime might >> i think that president mubarak, he knows what's going on in his own country.

it's up to the united states to be a helpful but insisting partner. we cannot afford a tiananmen square in cairo. >> former president jimmy carter predicted that president mubarak will have to resign because, quote, the people have decided. that view was echoed by carter's national security adviser and mika's dad. >> what could be appear issue is that mubarak becomes convinced with outside advice that it is in his interest as well as in egypt's interest that he goes and that he sets in motion a process which facilitates that. >> former american dip low mats warning against the potential consequence if the mubarak government does not respond to protests in the street. yesterday, ed walker says he believes the egyptian people will still see mubarak as a sign of corruption. the egyptian crisis continues to reverb rate around world

financial markets. while egypt knot an oil exporter, it is the home of the suez canal. this morning, crude oil prices climbed as investors worried the country's unrest could possibly spread elsewhere, affecting supplies in the region. with that in mind, let's take an early look at the markets as we get up into business this morning. steve sedgwick is live in london with a closer look at what that turmoil in egypt means for the market. hey, steve. >> good morning to you. relative stability for the markets today. if friday was the day we took fright, all the markets were down. the s&p down 1.8%. the dow down over 160 points. today's european markets slightly less under pressure been a lot of confidence on both sides of the atlantic expose to egypt. you have bp which has invested $17 billion in that country. you have barclay's headed up by

bob diamond. others like apache, vodafone, hsbc and citibank all have some form of presence in the country. in terms of those oil prices, they seem stabilized at the moment. nymex is trading around $89.42. but it is interesting that the rating agencies are now turning their attention to this country. moody's has downgraded the egyptian government debt looking at concerns saying as the already shake canning public finances could be under more pressure as the government tries to appease the discontent on the streets. back to you. >> thank you so much. we'll bring in dr. brazinski, jamie rubin, andrea mitchell and steve rattner will be in to discuss the implications. still ahead, mark zuckerberg visits our building at 30 rock to confront the actor who played

him in the social network. he's super awkward already. imagine how doubly awkward this was. wow. tell me if this news video looks familiar. take my breath away. a television network is caught splicing movie footage into a story. all that and another winter storm, believe it or not, moving in. [ jennifer garner ] there's a lot of beautiful makeup out there.

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with meteorologist bill karins. >> you might as well put major or worst in front of this one. for the middle of country, easiest the worst one yet. st. louis, kansas city, even dallas will get some ice and snow out of this. chicago, you're going to get a blizzard. snowfall total twebs area in pink pretty much shows you where we're going to get 6 to 12 inches. this is just in the next 48 hours. this is a three-day event. today, tomorrow and goes into wednesday in new england. notice that section between chicago and detroit? a possibility somewhere in there of getting two feet of snow and that's with strong, gusty wednesday, too. chicago, 12 to 18. des moines, kangs cabs city, 8 to 12. st. louis and oklahoma city, you're going to get a wintry mix. it's not only a snowstorm. we're going to deal with ice storms and power outages, too. it's a cold day in new england.

we'll talk more about the snowfall total necessary new england. northern and central new england could have 1 to 2 feet of snow, boston and albany. >> it just keeps coming. >> it's like boom, boom, boom. >> it's relentless. let's turn to sports. third-ranked duke looked almost unbeatable this year. they've won 19 of 20 games going into yesterday's game here at the garden in new york against unranked stt john's. duke struggling from three-point range. hit one of 13 in the fist half. and the johnnys capitalized. st. john led by 2 at halftime. nobody saw this come. they did not let up in the second. koesh k, what? this is st. john's, he's thinking. second half, tempers flared a little bit. smith and borrell rth tangled up

as they fight for roadway bound. not enough to fluster the red storm. they go on to blow out duke, 93-78. duke falls to 19-2. st. john's, now 12-8. from there to manhattan, poughkeeps poughkeepsie, watch this. >> not run the baseline. has to be right there over kemp. alvarado let's it fly for the win. he's got it! >> that's your game winner. manhattan college, michael alvaado, a 70-foot buzzer beater. manhattan improves to 4-18. to the nfl, the eagles will reportedly place a franchise tag on michael vick, scheduled to become a free agent after this season. that tag combines vick to the

franchise for another year. it ensures that he will be paid the average salary of the top five quarterbacks in the league which could amount to nearly $20 million for next season. coming up at the top of the hour on "morning joe," the latest on the upriegz in egypt. how is it going to end? what is the united states really hoping for here? and when we come back, we're huddle around the water cooler to watch snl's take on the egypt story. fred armson moves from president obama to president mubarak. ♪ you've got one of a kind eyes, so individualize with exact eyelights eye brightening mascara, liner, and shadow collections from covergirl. find your custom colors with light-reflecting metallics and say hello to brighter eyes! ♪ green eyes -- here's the look for you.

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repressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. america respects the right of all peaceful and law-abiding voices to be heard around the world, even if we disagree with them. >> that was president obama deliver ago speech in cairo june of 2009 saying he wanted a fres fresh start to relations between muslims and the united states. the u.s. and egypt have a long standing relationship and one that involves a significant amount of cash. if you want to sound smart today, tell your friends that

the u.s. has given egypt an average of $2 billion annually since 1979. that's according to the congressional research service which points out much of that money is in military aid. the overall total makes egypt the second largest recipient of u.s. aid after israel. enough of the real news. let's huddle up here around the water cooler to get the saturday night live take on the revolution. egypt's fred armison plays our president and he showed some range the other night playing president mubarak. >> how can they put in power for 30 years? >> i love it. my approval rating is 115%. numbers of life. >> i feel like you're missing the signals. >> yeah, but egyptians have never been great with -- we needed 10 plagues before we let the israelites go. ten. we had locusts, toads raining

from the sky, rivers turning into blood and still we were like, let's see how this plays out. >> also on snl, the host with jessie eisenberg, the guy who played mark zuckerberg in the social network, zuckerberg showed a good sense of humor showing up for a cameo saturday night live here with eisenberg as host. >> i was interpreting a fictional character in a movie script. >> so, thank you for coming here. >> wait, have you two not met? >> no. >> no. >> awkward. did you ever end up seeing the film, "the social network? " >> and what did you think?

>> it was interesting. interesting. you know what? i'll take it. >> eisenberg said they did meet in dress rehearsal. zuckerberg was sweet about everything, even congratulating him for the nomination. one more, the chinese news media, pumping up the air force. see if you recognize a snippet from one of your favorite 1980s news film in this footage. oh, i'd know that explosion anywhere, mav. "top gun" 1986. cctv caught splicing in a clip of top gun, pretending it was their air force. can we see the side by side? "the wall street journal" extracted these two pictures. tj, those two photoses anytime now. there it is. they're will be listing movie clips for chinese state

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